Beijing : A state-run Chinese daily said on Friday that India has suffered a setback and a “nasty surprise” in he “elephant versus dragon” race as its GDP growth slowed down in the January-April quarter helping China re-emerge as the fastest growing major economy.
Calling it a “self-goal” by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Global Times hoped India will not score any more “own goals” in the future as it continues with its reform efforts. India lost the tag of the fastest growing major economy to China in the March quarter with a GDP growth of 6.1 per cent, which pulled down the 2016-17 expansion to 7.1 per cent.
Some experts believe the demonetisation of high-value bank notes, that accounted for nearly 85 per cent of currency in circulation, in November by the government had some effect on the data.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the slowdown was due to both domestic and global factors, but maintained that the move to demonetise the notes cannot be blamed alone.
“It seems that India has suffered a setback in the ‘elephant versus dragon’ race, with an unexpected slowdown in its economy helping China regain the title of fastest-growing major economy in th e first quarter,” the Chinese daily said. Part of the publications run by the ruling Communist Party, the daily said the “surprising” slowdown points to
“some underlying problems” facing the Indian economy. It also doubted the government data, saying they “have invited controversy.” “India watchers were caught off-guard when the economy was revealed on Wednesday to have grown by only 6.1 per cent in the January-March period, its weakest in more than two years. The number was well below analysts’ forecasts of more than 7 per cent growth for the quarter,” it said.
